Latch set



H. BL YE. LATCH SET.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 13. 1919- '1,327,695. Patented Jan.13,1920.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HAROLD BLYE, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, ASSIGN OR TO NATIONAL BRASSCOMPANY, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN.

LATCH SET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 13, 1920.

Application filed January 13, 1919. Serial N 0. 270,935.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HAROLD BLYE, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State ofMichigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in LatchSets; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to a latch set particularly adapted forinstallation on swing ing doors, such as those of a house or otherbuilding used for dwelling purposes, though the latch set is not in anysense restricted to the one application. It is a primary object andpurpose of the invention to provide a device of this character which canbe readily applied to doors by practically unskilled labor, where,heretofore, it has been common to use a latch which required themortising of a hole rectangular in cross section and of relatively largesize, this necessitating the employment of skilled Wood workers to makea proper installation of the latch set, my invention requiring that onehole be bored with a bit or auger which receives the complete latch setfor the installation. A

furt er object of the invention is to produce a very simple and compactconstruction which can be manufactured at very low cost and one in whichthe parts going to make up the device may be very readily disassembledto replace or otherwise repair any part which may become broken or outof working order. All of these objects and purposes together with novelconstructions and arrangements of parts to effect the same, as well asmany others not at this time particularly noted, will appear fully andin detail as the description progresses, reference being had to theaccompanying drawing in which a preferred construction is illustrated,and in which, v

Figure 1 is a partial plan and sectional view of a latch set applied toa door, the door, parts of. the door knobsand es'clltcheons being shownin horizontal section and the latch set in plan.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the latchset, one of the housing membersbeing removed to show the interior latch mechanism. I

out,

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the operating member of the latch, and

Fig. 4 is a rear view of a face plate and attached sleeve forming oneelement of the latch set construction.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in the difierent views ofthe drawings.

The latch set is adapted to be applied at the free vertical edge of adoor 1, a cylin drical opening 2 being bored in said edge of the door toreceive the latch. This latch set is also of cylindrical form, includingin its construction two semi-cylindrical housing members 3 and 4 whichplaced together form a complete cylindrical housing. Each section ormember 3 and 4 is provided at each end with a short pin 5 to pass inbayonet slots 6 cut in opposite sides of a rear cap 7 and a front sleeve8, which sleeve is secured permanently to a face plate 9 lying againstand, preferably, set in the vertical edge of the door. When thusattached together, a firm housing is made but one in which a very readyand rapid disassembly of the housing members may-be had to get access tothe inner mechanism of the latch should it ever become necessary torepair the same. The plate 9 has upper and lower holes 9 through whichscrews are passed to attach it to the door, and is also formed with acentral rectangular opening 10 for the passage of the latch bolt, themetal struck from the plate being turned to the rear inside of thesleeve 8 as indicated at 11, serving as a back against which the latchbolt may ride. The attachment of the sleeve 8 to the plate 9 may be inany suitable manner, though I prefer to extend lips or tangs from thesleeve through the plate and head. the same over by riveting, thismaking a very firm and secure connection.

Within the cylindrical housing a member 12 is located formed from sheetmetal and practically semi-cylindrical in form lo fit against one of thehousing members l. At

its outer-end it is formed with a substantially circular end 13 in whicha key-hole slot is shape having one side beveled as at 15'to engagegainst the usual strike latch plate The latch bolt14l is of conventionalrear of the bolt '14, passing through the slot in the end 13 of themember 12 and formed with a head 17 back of said end 13, it beingevident that the connection of the rod 16 to the end 13 may be made byentering the rod into the key-hole slot with the flattened sides 16against the sides of the slot and then turning the rod after reachingthe larger circular part of the slot, whereby disconnection of the rodfrom end 13 cannot take place. A coiled spring 18 under compression isdisposed between the part 14 and the end 13 normally serving to projectthe bolt through the opening 10. This spring is of comparatively lighttension and on closing the door yields readily to permit retraction ofthe bolt but returning the bolt to normal position as soon as free to doso.

The opposite end of the member 12 is formed with a substantiallycircular end 19 between which and the cap 7 a stronger coiled spring 20is placed under compres sion to force the member 12 away from the cap.An operating rocker member 21 of cylindrical form is located in front ofthe end 19 and is formed at each end with reduced extensions 21 whichare adapted to pass through and have bearing in suitable circularopenings in the housing members 3 and 4, the member 12 being 'slottedat22to pass said rocker member and permit movement of the member 12lengthwise of the housing. At each side of the rocker mem ber 20, thesides of the member 12 are formed with shoulders 23 and the member 20has an integral outwardly extending sector 24 against the edges of whichshoulders 23 are pressed by the spring 20, it being evident that anyrotation given to the rocker member about its axis serves to move themember 12 inwardly toward the cap 7 compressing spring 20 and at thesame time retracting the, bolt 14. l

A squared opening 25 is made through and lengthwise of the rocker member20 through which a rod square in cross section is inserted passingthrough suitable transverse openings in the door. This rod, indicated at26, is threaded at its corners to screw into the shanks 27 of door knobs28, one beinglocated at each side of: the door and attached at each endof the rod 26, being threaded thereon as far as necessary to come closeto the usual escutcheon plates 29 one of Which is attached to each'sideof the door and each of which has an opening to pass the. rod 26. Theknobs. are heldat any position to which they'fmay be'adjust'ed bysetscrews. 30. Thehous ing members 3 and-4 have parts out awayso' as, toprovide aslot 60 .31 in each. side of the assembled housing, thispermitting a larger sector 24"and a nera-rower. the. rockerinfember thanif the same were restricted in size to'the interior dimensions of thehousing members 3' and 4. This" latch set maybe made largely from sheetmetal and regular stock material, making the cost of manufacture verylow. The parts are assembled without use of tools or machine work exceptfor attachment of sleeve 8 to the plate 9. Should the springs becomebroken or weaken after use, the latch set is disassembled instantly, theparts replaced and then reassembled very quickly without use of tools.This is also a very valuable asset to the structure in showing andexplaining the workings of the latch to customers. The belt 14 ridesagainst the inturned tongue 11 which takesthe pressure of the boltreceived when the" door'is closed. But the greatest advantage consistsin the fact that to apply it to doors, only one opening has to be boredwith one operation into the edge oi the door and one transverselythrough the door, after which the latch set may be inserted into thefirst opening, and the rod 26 through the transverse openings andthrough the rocker member, the escutcheons and knobs attached, thiscompleting the installation with a minimum of expense for labor, andwithout danger of improper mortising; whilea lock set similarly housedwithin a cylindrical housing which I have in mind and which will formthe subject matter of a future application for patent thereon may beinstalled in the door below the latch set, the complete latch and lockbeing thus easily installed by merely boring the necessary holes toreceive them without necessity of mortising a large rectangular openingto receive the combined latch and lock forhouse doors as now commonlydone.

I claim: L 1. In a device of the character described, a face platehaving an opening therethrough, a sleeve attached to the rear sideof-the plate and provided with a bayonet. slot therein, a capsiinilarlyprovided with a bayonet slot therein, a cylindrical housing formed oftwo semicylindrical parts disposed between, the cap. and sleeve andinserted at their ends into thje cap and sleev Qpins on said housingparts located in the, Slots, a latch bolt proj ecting. partiallythronghthe opening in said face platefmeans to" retract the bolt into the housing,and sprin means normally forcing the bolt partia 1y out of thehousing, substantiallyas described.

2. In a device of the character, described,

a housing comprising two semi-cylindrical parts, means. tor closn g oneend of thehousmg and detachably. connecting, the parts to ether atthatend, me'ans'atithe otherE'end a 0f the housing. for sim ar y de hebly@611- means. having; 9,11 ope,

lathi'belt 11 a; blyj'm u g normally? partially p e i asbm .ifprfmanually retractin the lat'ehboltjengw tn ee eases a enes normallyprojecting the bolt partially beyond the end of the housing.

3. In a device of the character described, an elongated cylindricalhousing closed at one end and having an opening at the opposite end, alatch bolt within the housing projecting partially through said opening,a member of semi-cylindrical form located within the housing and movablelengthwise thereof, said member havin circular ends, the one nearest thelatch bo t having a slot therein, a rod attached to the bolt and passingthrough said slot, a head on the rod, a coiled spring around the rodbetween the bolt and said member, a spring between the opposite end ofthe member and the closed end of the housing, and an operating rockermember mounted transversely of the housing against which said firstmember is pressed by said last mentioned spring, said operating memberwhen turned in either direction serving to move the first member andretract the latch bolt, substantially as described.

-l. A construction containing the elements in combination claimed inclaim 3, combined with means detachably passing through the rockermember for rotating it in either direction, substantially as described.

5. In a latch set, an elongated cylindrical housing, means to close oneend of the housing, a sleeve into which the opposite end of the housingis inserted, a plate to which said sleeve is connected, said platehaving an opening therein with a part of the plate turned back into thesleeve at one side of the opening, a latch bolt having a flat sideriding against said turned back part of the plate and the opposite sidebeveled, said bolt normally projecting a short distance through theopening in the plate beyond the housing, a member slidably mountedwithin the housing to move lengthwise thereof, connections between saidmember and bolt permitting inward movement of the bolt without movingsaid member, means normally yieldingly forcing the bolt outwardlylocated between the member and bolt, spring means between the member andthe closed end of the housing normally forcing the member outwardly, arocker member rotatably mounted transversely of the housing and servingas a stop to outward movement of the member, said rocker member whenrotated in either direction moving the member and attached boltinwardly, and means for turning the rocker member.

6. In a latch set, an elongated cylindrical housing, a plate attached toone end of the housing and provided with an inturned tongue therebyforming an opening through the plate, a latch bolt having a flat sideriding against said tongue and a beveled opposite side, means tonormally project the bolt partially through the opening beyond the endof the housing, and means for retracting the bolt entirely within thehousin substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my si nature.

HAROLD B YE.

